Crypto wallet startup Vault has announced that it's launching a wallet that stores non-fungible tokens and other crypto collectibles on Apple's App Store.
Co-founder John Egan told CoinDesk that the company is looking to make it easier for new users unfamiliar with blockchain to purchase these collectibles and hold them.
An issue with many current wallets and other tools, he said, is that they are focused on developers, rather than casual users. Decentralized apps (dapps) are one area he sees drawing potential new users into the space.
"The motivation here is no one wants to build in an ecosystem that customers can't get access to, so it's really important to build those on-ramps … [Vault] doesn't present them with a lot of technical information, just gives them a way to start using [dapps]," Egan said.
Moreover, Vault will not list token prices or enable the trading of tokens, he said, adding:
"It's like the early days of baseball cards, you didn't buy them to make 50 [times] their value later, you bought them to own them or trade them with your friends. I think that's the big opportunity with collectibles … you want to have these things because you want them, not because you're chasing [prices] … I think that's what the future is, the utility is coming."
"You can kind of see it in the [user interface] ... the application doesn't attempt to encourage this idea of profit-seeking, it encourages this idea of holding things because you believe it has intrinsic value," he said.
He likened his vision for Vault to Apple's iOS, noting that while developers could already create apps for smartphones, introducing an ecosystem that made it easy to share and use apps spurred adoption.
"Our desire is to be the most used crypto wallet and sort of knock down barriers in terms of getting into the space," he said. "I think collectibles have the best chance of bringing us out of the early adopter phase and moving into mainstream use, because most people are excited about these games."
As part of its interface, users can add friends as contacts, negating the need to memorize or share complicated wallet addresses.
"We're not a trading desk, we're not a Coinbase, we're not a Gemini, we're trying to be a utility. I think if we're successful long-term, you'll begin to see this ecosystem flourish like you saw the web flourish," he concluded.
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